Carlos faundez urbina

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Professor (Assistant) at Pontifical Catholic University of Chile

Core Ideas Increasing macropore volume may decrease the final cumulative outflow. Heterogeneous macroporous geometries can be represented explicitly or implicitly. HYDRUS‐1D and SWAP performed well in soils with heterogeneous macroporous geometries. Dead‐end macropores are included by changing lateral transfer parameters with depth. Heterogeneous...

The water relation strategy is a key issue in climate change. Given the difficulty of determining water relations strategy, there is a need for simple traits with a solid theoretical basis to estimate it. Traits associated with resource allocation patterns along a ‘fast-slow’ plant economics spectrum are particularly compelling, reflecting trade-of...

Background: Urea fertilizer and MCPA herbicide are widely used agrochemicals in pastures. Even though urea hydrolysis impacts soil pH, potentially affecting MCPA dissipation, little is known about the effects of their co-application into the rhizosphere. Hence, we aimed to analyze the dynamics of urea transformation and MCPA dissipation when both a...

In recent years, using pre-sprouted seedlings for sugarcane establishment has been developed in Brazil. Despite yielding promising results, the optimal irrigation management for this method during the Brazilian winter planting season has yet to be determined. Additionally, information regarding water demand and seedling behavior when subjected to d...

The water relation strategy of a species (iso-anisohydric continuum as one of the most widely used definitions) is a key issue in the context of climate change. Given the difficulty of determining water relations strategy, there is a need for simple traits with a solid theoretical basis to estimate it. Among the many possibilities, traits associate...

Determination of soil volumetric water content θ in forest ecosystems is particularly challenging due to deep rooting systems and unknown soil vertical and spatial heterogeneity. This research aims to test two undisturbed methods, electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) and HYDRUS 2D/3D, for 2D θ determination in a thorny forest ecosystem. The expe...

Spatially explicit soil information is crucial for comprehending and managing many of Earth´s processes related to carbon, water, and other biogeochemical cycles. We introduced a gridded database of soil physical properties and hydraulic parameters at 100 meters spatial resolution. It covers the continental area of Chile and binational basins share...

Turfgrass managers have suspected that runoff-independent movement of herbicides and fertilizers is partially responsible for uneven turfgrass quality in sloped areas. We hypothesized that subsurface lateral solute transport might explain this phenomenon especially in areas with abrupt textural changes between surface and subsurface horizons. A stu...

Veterinary pharmaceuticals (VPs) residues may end up on the soil via manure, and from there can be transported to groundwater due to leaching. In this study an analytical framework to estimate the leaching potential of VPs at the national scale is presented. This approach takes soil-applied VPs concentrations, soil-hydraulic and soil-chemical prope...

The water crisis is a concern for Chilean agriculture. Testing new methods based on computer simulations is urgent to optimize irrigation. This study aimed to assess the model efficiency of HYDRUS 2D/3D simulations of volumetric water content (θ) and pore electrical conductivity (ECp) in an olive tree variety Kalamata under desert conditions. The m...

Models are typically applied to estimate the potential adverse effects of fire on land degradation and water resources and the potential benefits of post-wildfire rehabilitation treatments. However, few modeling studies have been conducted for meso-scale catchments, and only a fraction of these studies include transport and deposition of eroded mat...

Opuntia ficus-indica is a versatile crop that is resilient to drought, making it perfect for semiarid to arid zones. However, the lack of knowledge associated with its benefits and the lack of simple crop growth simulation models to determine its potential development, among others, has prevented its expansion. Transpiration-use efficiency (w) has...

Macropore flow in near-surface soils can increase contamination risk of underlying water resources by agro-chemicals. Macropore flow is commonly simulated using dual-permeability models (DPMs) involving separate equations for flow in the soil matrix and the macropores, which then are coupled using a lateral mass transfer equation. A large number of...

The vertical change in the number of macropores causes a variation of the relative macroporosity (wf) and the effective aggregate width (dag) over the soil profile. Both parameters are used in HYDRUS to represent this variation, increasing the number of parameters and making challenging automated calibration. The working hypothesis is that we can i...

Pesticide transport simulation by SWAP–PEARL (Soil–Water–Atmosphere–Plant and Pesticide Emission Assessment at Regional and Local scales) models can help to predict pesticide leaching at regional scales. For reasons of economic and time efficiency, measurement efforts should be prioritized towards critical parameters. The objective of this research...

The relative macroporosity (wf) and the effective aggregate width (dag) are input parameters for several dual‐permeability models. As wf is geometrically related to dag, any improvement in its determination is directly extended to dag. The wf, as estimated by disk infiltrometers, applies only under the assumption that macropores are cylindrically s...

A test under laboratory conditions was performed to typify and model the vertical movement of a nematicide (DiTera) applied at concentrations of 400, 700, and 1000 mg L-1 via drip irrigation to a sandy loam class soil confined in tanks of 1 m³. Vacuum extractometers were set up in the tank at different depths to obtain samples of soil solution star...

Studies related to the solute movement in soils some information about the soil transport parameters becomes necessary, searching for a rational irrigation system and a rational use of water and fertilizers. Therefore, some solute transport parameters such as: retardation factor and dispersivity can be obtained by developing breakthrough curves (BT...